5/9/10

There was a time when I was little I remember having a memorable strawberry shortcake at a local summer fair. Everyone around me was eating it, when I walked through the entrance gates of the fair almost every other person I saw was eating strawberry shortcake. I simply couldn't wait to get to the strawberry shortcake stand and devour one--no, I was having two orders (I reasoned with myself because I knew there'd be a line). Patiently I waited in line like everyone else, staring at every single order of strawberry shortcake that went by. Once I finally got to the front line, I was able to see inside the truck: a massive bucket filled with bright red strawberries in a red syrupy sauce, a large tray had slices of cake ready to assemble, and cans of whipped cream all lined up assembly style. Taking my first bite I couldn't wait--but it was awful. The cake was angel food (or as I like to call it angel-air cake), the berries were limp and partially frozen, and the whipped cream was nothing but chemicals. Such a dissapointment. But what kept my mind stirring about for the rest of the day was why did all the people love it so much and not me? What was wrong with me? As I got older and became more of a foodie I realized that real strawberry shortcake is made with real strawberries, real whipped cream and strawberry shortcake made with REAL biscuits, not angel-AIR cake.So every time I make strawberry shortcake I'm always brought back to that moment and wonder how many people, right now, are truly missing out and eating those horrid versions seen at some local fairs.

Grate your 5 TB of butter with a cheese grater or food processor, place back in freezer till ready to use. Preheat oven to 500ºF. Spray a 9 inch springform or cake pan with some nonstick spray. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt to a bowl and mix the ingredients together evenly.Using a fork or pastry blender, mix the butter. Stop once you have the dough in small crumbles. Fold in the buttermilk until everything is just blended, and there are no streaks of flour remain. Do not overmix, the mixture should still be lumpy.Line a plate or tray with some flour and using a 1/4 C measuring cup or 1/4 C ice cream/cookie scoop, scoop out balls of the dough onto the tray of flour.Flour your hands and roll each ball around in the flour to evenly coat them in a layer of flour.The dough is very wet and very sticky.Place the dough balls into the prepared pan. Place 9 balls around in a ring and 3 balls in the center of the pan. Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter, then dust them with coarse sugar chunks.Bake for 5 minutes at 500ºF (middle rack) and then lower the temperature to 450ºF and bake for another 15 minutes. Should make 12 (you can halve this recipe to make only 6 biscuits).

whipped cream:Place your whipping bowl and the beaters in the freezer at least ½ hour before using. This is good for keeping the whipped cream nice and cold.I use about ½ cup of whipping cream, beat till almost whipped, then add in a couple splashes of pure vanilla extract, then resume whipping till done.

chocolate topping:I just melted some 60% cocoa dark chocolate chips in the microwave.

to assemble:I only used 6 of the biscuits and froze the rest. Cut the biscuits in half, spoon on the strawberry mixture, put a little bit of the melted chocolate, put on the other half of the biscuit, then top with whipped cream and maybe a bit more melted chocolate.

ow ow ow! I love me some strawberry shortcake! Its my moms favorite dessert too (and she like NEVER eats dessert). With added chocolate? How could it not be awesome. I am a much bigger fan of a biscuity bottom vs. angel food cake as well. VERY nice. Plus it contains strawberries...so it counts as healthy ;)

I've nothing against sponge cake or chiffon cake for SSC, but eww, not angel food. And yes, it has to be fresh berries and cream all the time :) The original biscuit version you've made looks lovely - that could also be the chocolate talking ;)

I like strawberry shortcake, but please don't kill me for saying this...I can't stand whipped cream! I'm so weird, I know. But I love that you add chocolate. Strawberries are pretty much the only fruit that I will eat with chocolate.

My food calendar says today is "National Buttermilk Biscuit Day", so I hope you have one of these beauties leftover to enjoy and celebrate today. The photo is gorgeous, but it probably tasted even better.

I have to admit, I have never gotten the strawberry shortcake thing. Why eat a dessert that isn't very sweet? The biscuit part...I don't understand. But your brilliant addition here makes perfect sense.

But they're not just seen at local fairs- that's what's offered at grocery stores! Right next to the beautiful red strawberries on display is airy spongey cake, and strawberry glaze. And if you're "lucky" you can get free cool whip to top it all off. It's gross and that's why I've NEVER liked strawberry shortcake until now. Because it's so different than I had growing up.

wow what a delicious and easy recipe! I love strawberries, my fiance does, so with your recipe we will have a nice and happy family uring the summer!! i am definetely follow your blog from now on! so glad I found it!! :)

I know what you mean about people liking stuff that I'm often disapointed. Guess I have high expectation on things... I'm sure your shortcake is 1000 better than the version you had. Maybe you sould start selling yours next door ;)

about vanilla sugar blog

Unique eats, creative recipes, as simple as possible.What drives me to create? Seeing dishes in restaurants, meals created on TV, recipes in cookbooks/online, and I always think to myself why didn’t they add this or why did they leave out that? Love to question, love to research, and love to learn about combining different flavors and textures in recipes.Recipe creations please email: vanillasugarblog@aol.com